To-Do Tuesday - Week of Dec 29, 2020 to January 4, 2020

 Merry Christmas and very Happy (better) New Year! Let's all hope that we can put the dumpster fire of 2020 behind us, and that 2021 is the best it can be.

Depression raised its ugly head again, and although I was able to function somewhat normally for work and family relationships, my personal well-being took a hit. I was looking forward at the beginning of the year to have a dedicated crafting/sewing space again, but as much as I am happy with it, I was not motivated at all. I've had a quilt beside me to bind for months now, and have only managed to stitch 1 1/2 sides. 

Blogging has always helped me get motivated and accountable to myself, so here I go once again.

Here is this week's to-do list:

1. Box up, sort, purge and organize back room, in preparation for the installation of a mini-kitchen area. This has become a dumping area over the last nine months, and I can't use the excuse of no time anymore! (Keeping it real here!)

Fridge alcove and sink/counter area to the left.

Sink/counter area is now on the right - it won't be big but the sink will be big enough to clean paint brushes and the counter to make a coffee! The front area is only about 7 ft wide, enough for a small table perhaps.

This wall is opposite the counter area. It will mainly be overflow storage for projects and supplies. The garage door can be seen in the background.

2, Finish binding this damn quilt! It guilts me every day!

3. Use a past project UFO  to use as a Leader/Ender project for the week. I've picked On Ringo Lake, a mystery quilt from Bonnie Hunter. I am still on Step 2, and I'd like to complete it this week! 

It has been sitting like this for about a month now. It's not the best pic, it's a bit gloomy today, but you can see some finished units in the upper left hand corner of the board.

Bonus project: I bought a little footstool on Facebook Marketplace sometime ago (maybe a year?), and want to recover the top, make a new lining for the inside and the underside of the top and paint it for my sitting room. I love hand-sewing and embroidery, and it would be nice to keep my supplies handy. I would love to finish this project this week, but only if I get the decluttering done.

It is definitely home-made, but with some interesting details. I'll take of the old cover and pad the new top a little better, I suspect it only has layers of fabric as it isn't very soft as a footstool. I have a piece of fabric I created from selvedges that I think would make a great cover.

As much as that under-top pocket looks in good shape, it is a pretty loose weave and some of the stitching has let go. It's also grimy on the edges and a little musty, so I would like to replace it.

I'm joining the Tuesday To Do Linky Party over at Home Sewn by Us for the first time. I hope to keep it up this coming year as a motivation to move some of my UFOS along! 

The last few years, I have chosen a word to represent what I'd like to achieve for the year. Some past words have been Joy, Nurture, Focus. I'm considering what to use this year, using what I've learned this year. The impact of COVID-19 has changed so much this year, and I'm going to use my blog as a journal this coming year, with some reflections and changes I'm going to make moving forward.

As far as my family and I go, we have been fortunate not to suffer the effects of the disease itself, nor any of the economic suffering of others. We have been incredibly grateful for these blessings, and are doing our part following our government guidelines and wearing masks to protect others, so that maybe our community can reopen sooner rather than later. I hope you and yours remain safe. 

Until next time, 

Terri in BC

A fresh start

This past year and half has been a struggle with my depression. One thing that I have realized, I do so much better when I have a way to go back and see how far I have come. I don't keep up with journals or diaries, but when I was keeping up with my blog, my mood was much improved. So...I'm going to try again. I may blog about more than just quilting, I also scrapbook and do genealogy research, all of which have fallen by the wayside, so I'll be working on that too!

I was successful in completing a Christmas gift this week, it was a small book for me and my siblings of pictures us together through the years.  Here are a few pages:

Disclosure: I use software called Artisan purchased from Forever.com -  I am an Ambassador (their name for a consultant) so I get a discount when I purchase anything, including the books I order. I've been using a version of this software for over 10 years to do digital scrapbooking.

3 Things

I struggle daily with motivation, actually the lack of.  It's a combination of my depression, control issues and lack of accountability to anyone but myself.  But I think I have found a magic combination that works for me - 3 Things.  This is a new realization so I'm counting it as one of my Change (Word of the Year) items, but I have been doing it for about a month.

Every night I make a list of 3 things that I want to accomplish the next day before I can do any "fun" stuff - like sewing, scrapbooking, or 'playing' with friends.  It can be as simple as doing the dishes, a load of laundry and taking out the garbage when I'm having really bad days; or X # of  hours of work-related chores, meeting a client and washing windows on a good day. 

Today was pretty simple, because it's Sunday so my chores were doing laundry including the quilt I finished yesterday (pics coming on my first finish for 2011!), cleaning the kitchen and preparing for tonight's dinner with my kids, and gathering all the recyclables for garbage day.  I was on a roll so I also washed the floor in the kitchen, made the bed (a miracle in this house!) before I would 'allow' myself to surf the net.  Next up, more sewing!! 

New Year's Resolutions

1. Family comes first!  This is really my only resolution this year - I want to be 100% in the moment when it comes to family.  It is especially important this year, with having a 2-year-old grandson and another grandchild on the way.

The rest of these are just because:
2. Be a better blogger - update all 3 of my blogs at least once a week.
    (My other blogs are for my scrapbooking friends  and my family history findings).
3. Finish more UFO's than projects I start!
4. Learn how to properly machine quilt (this may require a new machine ;o)

(Image courtesy of ronunruhgps.blogspot.com/)

Word for the year is CHANGE.  Change the way I work, play and view the world. Change what I put in my body and what comes out of my mouth.  Change my outlook on life.

Last year's word was JOY and it helped me immensely to have a focus word.  The end result was I enjoyed the experience of being a grandmother more, rediscovered my joy of sewing and quilting, rediscovered some friends, and even found my chronic depression lifting - so much so that I may be able to make a change to my treatment plan!  That is the most exciting thing for me since I had it from most of life, it was diagnosed after 20 years of suffering, and I'm now 15 years after diagnosis.

Have you made any this year?